The Warehouse

by Rob Hart

Cloud isn’t just a place to work. It’s a place to live. And when you’re here, you’ll never want to leave.

Paxton never thought he’d be working for Cloud, the giant tech company that’s eaten much of the American economy. Much less that he’d be moving into one of the company’s sprawling live-work facilities.

But compared to what’s left outside, Cloud’s bland chainstore life of gleaming entertainment halls, open-plan offices, and vast warehouses…well, it doesn’t seem so bad. It’s more than anyone else is offering.

Zinnia never thought she’d be infiltrating Cloud. But now she’s undercover, inside the walls, risking it all to ferret out the company’s darkest secrets. And Paxton, with his ordinary little hopes and fears? He just might make the perfect pawn. If she can bear to sacrifice him.

As the truth about Cloud unfolds, Zinnia must gamble everything on a desperate scheme—one that risks both their lives, even as it forces Paxton to question everything about the world he’s so carefully assembled here.

Together, they’ll learn just how far the company will go…to make the world a better place.

Set in the confines of a corporate panopticon that’s at once brilliantly imagined and terrifyingly real, The Warehouse is a near-future thriller about what happens when Big Brother meets Big Business--and who will pay the ultimate price.

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Thriller, Audiobook, Mystery, Adult

368 pages, Paperback

First published August 13, 2019

About the author

Rob Hart is the author of the USA TODAY bestseller ASSASSINS ANONYMOUS. He also wrote THE PARADOX HOTEL, which was nominated for. Lambda Literary Award, as well as THE WAREHOUSE, which has been sold in more than 20 countries. He also wrote the Ash McKenna crime series, the short story collection TAKE-OUT, the novella SCOTT FREE with James Patterson, and, with Alex Segura, the comic book BLOOD OATH and the novel DARK SPACE.

His short stories have been published widely, including “Due on Batuu,” set in the Star Wars universe, which appeared in FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and "Take-Out," which appeared in BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2018.

He’s worked as a political reporter, the communications director for a politician, and a commissioner for the city of New York. He is the former publisher at MysteriousPress.com and class director at LitReactor. He lives in Jersey City.

Reviews

[MarilynW · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world of The Warehouse is a bleak world and sadly much too close to our real world than I would like to acknowledge. People can no longer really exist outside of the world of Cloud and living in the world of Cloud is an existence not worth living. It's a life where people have learned to be happy with a sterile existence of working until they fall onto a thin futon, doing the same thing every single day, eventually just going through the motions, day in and day out. The only other choice is to be out from under the protection of Cloud, in the world that Cloud helped to destroy, a world that is barren and hot and has barely enough for survival.

We follow Paxton, a member of the security team for Cloud, and Zinnia, a picker, who processes orders for Cloud, and Gibson, the founder of Cloud. There can be no happy ending in this world, at least for a very, very long time, if ever. But there are a few who are trying to change things and I can only hope they succeed.

Pub August 20, 2019

Thank you to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC.

[Paromjit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rob Hart provides a shockingly powerful and harrowing glimpse into the all too real possible realities in our future, of a ravaged world and US, this is a contemporary dystopian version of Orwell's 1984. In this near future, there is a government, but it is of little consequence, there is a desperate scramble for jobs, any job, and towering over it all is the Cloud, a monopoly with unfettered power, a thinly disguised Amazon, a monstrous behemoth with its tentacles in every pie, such as media outlets, technology, etc.. The Cloud proclaims itself as a force for all that is good, delivering goods by drone, a presence in every city, and the perfect employer shaping the nature of work and life where employees live on site, where their every need is met by the caring Cloud. It all sounds too good to be true, and as Hart's prescient novel proves, it is in fact a horror of a nightmare that we could all too easily be sleepwalking into, the seeds of it are all here in today's world.

This is a well structured storytelling which excels in its world building, where the drudgery and monotony of working for the company is laid bare in all its excruciating details, the all encompassing surveillance, observation and tight monitoring of its employees, the lack of employee rights, the terrifying and sinister goings on behind the scenes at Cloud and the conspiracies. A disillusioned Paxton, a prison guard, who had his company destroyed by Cloud is now taken on by Cloud, working security for the company. Zinnia, another employee, she is a woman with her own hidden agenda, gravitates towards Paxton with an ulterior motive, his position gives him access to areas that she needs. The narrative gives their perspectives and that of the now dying CEO of Cloud, the man responsible for the Cloud from its very beginnings, Gibson Wells. He sees himself as man who has done nothing but good in the world, a self justifying hypocrite, claiming he is at the top of the corporate pile, thanks to market forces. Wells is a sickeningly deluded man, manipulative, ignoring and refusing to acknowledge just how the dice were loaded against anyone and everyone that challenged Cloud. Is it possible to challenge the Cloud now?

Hart lays out his compelling premise with skill, with great characterisation and character development, giving us a painstaking portrayal of a world bereft of humanity, morality and ethics. The Cloud is a product of the unquestioning consumer wanting the lowest prices, ease of delivery, the entire convenience of the process that aided the Cloud into its unassailable position. That it decimated local stores and independent outlets are the inevitable consequences of such a corporation. This is scary and pertinently relevant reading material, so thought provoking, and with some surprising twists. I admit to not always finding it an easy read, but the subject matter kept me glued to the book right up to the end. Many thanks to Random House Transworld for an ARC.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

An endorsement from Blake Crouch was all I needed to request this book from netgalley. Imagine a world in the not so distant future where Amazon has become even more all encompassing and you have The Warehouse. Most small businesses have disappeared, driverless trucks and drones are the norm, and job choices are slim. The world is crashing and burning - climate change, minimal government, the lack of clean water, out of control migration. Of course, it’s not just Amazon this book derides. Hart has stolen other elements from our lives - Apple Watch, a government more on the side of corporations than humans (the Worker Responsibility Act will scare you silly).

We hear from alternating narratives from our three main characters. Gibson is the founder of The Cloud. Paxton finds himself working for the Cloud after they forced his small business to fold. Zinnia is there on an undercover espionage mission. I liked that the different narratives provided us with a point/counterpoint to the capitalism vs. worker argument. If 1984 painted a picture against communism, The Warehouse goes after capitalism. In both instances, it’s the individual that gets trampled.

There’s a very dry, subtle sense of humor here. Not just the names of the laws Gibson has enacted, but the commercials. But there’s also a real darkness here, especially as the book progresses.

This book did a great job of keeping me engaged. It’s got a fast pace and quite a few interesting side stories. It actually spooked me. As someone who uses Amazon a lot, I really felt like part of the problem.

My thanks to netgalley and Crown for an advance copy of this book.

[David Putnam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four and a half stars, I'm now reserving five stars for those books that knock my socks off.

I liked this book a great deal. Didn’t at first. The voice of the three characters didn’t grab me like they should. I know one thing for sure I’m not going to look at hamburgers the same way ever again. Yuck.
There are three point of view characters and I liked two of them. The third was the owner of the company The Cloud. His point of view was all exposition or narrative in the form of a blog he put out to the employees and the world. It was information that the reader needed for the story but it was a big risk by the author. It became a speed bump that interfered with the forward motion of the story and had I not related to the other two characters so much I might’ve put it down.
What I really enjoyed was how all the plot lines came to an end at the same time. This is difficult to do, (Believe me I know). I also liked how there wasn’t a lot of wasted prose. Most every word was needed to display character, foreshadow or forward the story. There wasn’t a lot of wasted blah, blah blah, (blah, blah, blah, now that’s a real professional explanation) that I see a lot of in other contemporary books.
But the best part of this book is the theme and the spot-on handling of events unfolding in our world today. In fact, I would go so far as to say it’s chilling. And because it is so well written this thriller crosses genres and dips its big toe into horror. While reading this book, and even today as I write about it, the dark undertone continues to cloud (no punt intended—well maybe) my thoughts.
Highly recommend.
David Putnam the Author of the Bruno Johnson series.

[Dem · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ✨

I think I am being generous in giving this one 3.5 stars but I loved the concept, the characters and the plot held my interest but the abrupt ending and unanswered questions left me feeling a little cheated and the reason for my 3.5 star rating.

Well plotted and a scarily realistic novel that gets you thinking. A dystopian style tale that is scarily believable. Gun violence, climate change and unemployment have ravaged the United States beyond recognition and retail Giant “Cloud” reigns supreme but all is not as it seems and underneath the perfect face of “Cloud” lucks a world of secrets and intrigue.

Terrific concept for a novel and this is definitely a book that will spark conversation round a dinner table. The World’s shopping habits are changing and we all have an opinion on it. Is this a story that we may one day be our reality? I think there is a lot of food for thought here.

I listened to this one on audio and the narration was excellent and I found the voice of Gibson so convincing and eerie. I really looked forward to listening to this book every evening but the abrupt ending didn't work for me because it left a lot of unanswered questions. Having said that a book I enjoyed listening to and think readers who enjoyed Wool Omnibus may well love this one too.

[Richard (on hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paxton and Zinnia sit together on a crowded bus heading across the desert. Along with their fellow passengers they are hoping to find work.
A vast structure appears on the horizon - a warehouse within the giant Cloud corporation. Almost too big to take in, it lies under a dark, buzzing cloud of drones, each flying purchased goods to destinations across America.
Paxton is a pleasant everyman type with a grievance against the company and Zinnia has a dangerous secret.
The Warehouse by Rob Hart is set in the near future - mass unemployment, the fear of violence and the effects of climate change are rife. Cloud, a company similar to Amazon in its early days (don’t quote me!) has grown in power, and is so big now that it has not only killed off most independent retail businesses, but it also controls the media and increasingly the political system. Towns and town centres have begun to ‘whither and die’.
Cloud is proud of itself though. It creates jobs, has humane work practises, reduces carbon emissions and promotes friendliness and good will to all.
So, is this big corporate business throwing a comfy blanket around the world, leading us all to a bright enlightened future? .......... or is it uncaring, hard capitalism gone mad with aims that are rotten at its core?
What do you reckon?? :)
The Warehouse is a fast paced and clever thriller underpinned by some interesting and prescient thoughts about where our world may well be heading ......... and it feels all too plausible! The plot is nicely constructed and the writing flows beautifully.
This was an exciting and thought provoking read for those that enjoyed The Circle, 1984 and Ready Player One - very much recommended.

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and The Publisher for asking me to read this book!!

I felt like I was reading about Amazon and "The Cloud"

Short and sweet here as I did the Netgalley review on my blog!

Big word of advice! NEVER EATING THE FREAKING CLOUDBURGERS IN THIS WORLD!! 😳

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Glenn Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Warehouse presents a nightmarish future world made all the more ghastly and sinister since its future isn't too far distant and much of the nightmare is already in the making.

We're in 2040 or thereabouts, and it's global warming with a vengeance: cities like Dubai and Cairo have become uninhabitable, their citizens turned refugees. Rising water levels have destroyed Venice, and Miami is nearly flooded off the map. Worldwide oppressive heat—(we can infer much of the globe registers temperatures over 115 degrees)—means, unless absolutely necessary, venturing outside has become virtually unthinkable.

The Warehouse features two main characters, rotating back and forth from their respective points of view: Paxton, a former prison guard in New York for fifteen year who has spent his off hours developing his own business – he invented a gizmo that makes the perfect hard-boiled egg, and Zinnia, an expert in all phases of combat with a killer instinct who employs her skills as a seasoned warrior in corporate espionage.

At the opening of the novel, along with many others, Paxton and Zinnia take a bus rumbling across the desolate, scorching American hinterland to seek employment in the world of a MotherCloud, a colossal warehouse for Cloud, the largest company in the US. The MotherCloud warehouse is surrounded by tech facilities, dormitories, shopping/entertainment malls, schools, and a hospital, all kept cool by green energy. Paxton introduces himself to attractive Zinnia and wonders if he'll have an opportunity to meet her again once in MotherCloud.

Turns out, the pair are among the lucky ones given a job and not sent home (I'm being ironic here; please see below). Paxton will join the ranks of security guards (blue shirts) and Zinnia has been assigned as a warehouse picker (red shirts), something of a surprise since, with her strong background with computers, she thought she'd be used as a tech person (brown shirts).

Actually, The Warehouse features a third main character: Gibson Wells, the founder and CEO of Cloud. Although Wells is worth $304.9 billion (the third richest man in the world), he's on the cusp of losing it all since he has pancreatic cancer and will die in less than a year. We get Wells' reflections on his life, Cloud, and overall philosophy in the form of ongoing entries on his blog.

Back on Paxton and Zinnia. The pair do indeed meet once inside MotherCloud. Their day-to-day workaday grind and developing relationship drive much of the novel's drama, especially Zinnia's secret plans to extract the needed information for her mysterious employer, probably a prime competitor to Cloud, information regarding Cloud's questionable green energy source, granting the mega company millions of dollars in tax exemptions.

The Warehouse is a thriller. You'll eagerly keep turning those pages to find out what happens to Paxton and Zinnia. However, since the novel is also a cautionary tale of a possible near-future dystopia, here's a list of a number of ways Cloud is depicted as a dehumanizing horror show.

The Ultimate Strong-Arm - Cloud owns an entire range of industries well beyond their warehouse operation, including everything from farms to media to microchips. As a result, they employ a whopping 30 million employees. Wells is very proud that he convinced the government to stop interfering in important ways with Cloud. This resulted in the countrywide unemployment rate dropping from 28% to 3%. Quite impressive, for sure, Mr. Wells, but there's a definite trade-off: without government regulations, Cloud can treat employees however they want, no matter how abusive.

Slam! - When Paxton gets off the bus and enters the Cloud facility, he can see an older man at the end of the line barred from entrance. A Cloud employee tells the old man he's gotta want to work at Cloud so much he'd never be the last in line. Do you detect a tincture of brutality?

Total Control, One - Each employee is assigned a tiny dormitory room on the Cloud campus. Wells is very proud of this arrangement, which has drastically reduced all the carbon dioxide pollution generated by employees driving their cars back and forth to work.

Total Control, Two - Each employee must wear a company-issued computerized wristband at all times upon leaving their dormitory room. Thus, Cloud can track every single employee 24/7. The wristband displays the wearer's star rating (you dare not drop below three stars). Additionally, a bar constantly transitions from green to yellow. If it turns yellow, you must work faster to return it to green. If your rating drops from yellow to red more than once – you're fired.

Work, Work, Work - The 40 hour work week is a past luxury. According to Wells, you gotta have ambition, which translates into working 60 or 70 hours every week. Overtime pay? Don't even ask. And if you complain, you're always free to leave.

Safety Last - Warehouse pickers can use safety clips when they climb up to the upper shelves, but since the clips take time to snap on and off, employees hardly ever use them. After all, they could lose valuable seconds and drop further down on their yellow bar. One lady tells Zinnia she's in a wheelchair since she took a nasty fall as a picker. But, she says, Cloud took good care of her; she now works at a computer as part of tech support.

Hospital - Zinnia dislocates her shoulder and requires a hospital visit. A man promptly relocates her shoulder and advises against the hospital unless she wishes to risk her star rating. He emphasizes that the hospital is reserved for severe injuries. If one is capable of walking or simply unwell, it's preferable to opt for a painkiller and continue with work.

Drones - Wells undertook a significant business risk by investing in cutting-edge drone technology. His gamble proved successful: nowadays, Cloud reigns supreme. Cloud is the company capable of offering customers throughout the entire US with lightning-fast service. Any employee showing even a hint of trouble is promptly assigned to the warehouse roof, where they must endure 10-12 hour shifts amidst scorching heat. Their responsibility? Loading cargo onto thousands of drones.

Big Fish Eats Little Fish – Paxton is resentful since Cloud drove him out of his hard-boiled-egg business back when he was CEO of his own company. Cloud destroyed many small business in its quest for complete domination. As Wells continually drives home, when it comes to business, “the market decides” and he wasn't proud he had to break a few eggs to make an omelet, but, dang, it's the end result that counts. And, with Cloud, so claims Wells, the world is a better place.

Cloud Media – With all their TV stations and other mass media, Cloud is Fox taken to the extreme. There's a TV in every dormitory room with every station being a Cloud station. The brainwashing is complete.

White Managers - Zinnia finds herself confronted with Rick's persistent attempts at sexual abuse in the dormitory. She soon realizes that Rick's status as a manager (indicated by his white shirt) enables him to act with impunity, as exploiting women seems to be an unspoken privilege associated with attaining a higher position and embodying the ideal of a "Cloud man." A Latino supervisor informs Zinnia that managerial roles are exclusively reserved for white men. Racist and sexist, you might ask? Absolutely! However, Cloud has positioned itself far beyond the reach of state laws or government regulations.

Getting To Know You - Cloud does its best to prevent employees from forming into groups or developing meaningful relationships. To maintain complete control over every phase of its employees' lives, Cloud discourages interpersonal connections or in-depth conversations that are outside the scope of one's job. Recall I mentioned that Cloud is a dehumanizing horror show back there. This last bullet seals the deal for the truth of this statement.

Rob Hart has written a gem, a compelling captivating novel for our time. Highly recommended.


American author Rob Hart

Rob has dedicated his novel to Maria Fernandes. Rob writes "Maria Fernandes worked part time at three separate Dunkin' Donuts located in New Jersey, and in 2014, while sleeping in her car between shifts, accidentally suffocated on gas fumes. She was struggling to pay $550 a month on her basement apartment. That same year, according to the Boston Globe, Dunkin' Brands then CEO, Nigel Travis, earned $10.2 million. More than anyone or anything else, Maria's story beats at the heart of this book."

[Kemper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free advance copy of this for review from NetGalley.

You load sixteen drones, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt…

It’s the near future, and the giant company Cloud dominates the economy with its massive warehouses that are essentially cities where the employees live and work. However, the CEO of Cloud, Gibson Wells, has just announced that he’s dying of cancer so there’s change on the horizon as a couple of new employees meet during the hiring process. Paxton’s dream of running his own business was destroyed by Cloud, but now he needs a job so he finds himself on a security team. Zinnia acts like just another person looking for work, but in reality she’s been paid by a mysterious client to infiltrate Cloud and uncover some of its secrets.

Unfortunately, it’s hard for Zinnia to find holes in Cloud’s security, and even harder when she is worn out from long shifts spent running to fill orders. A relationship with Paxton might be her best way to complete her mission, but can she use him like that if she actually likes the guy?

On the surface this seems like your standard dystopian tale with some idealistic folks trying to take down an evil corporation, but this book is deeper and more subtle than that. For starters, the characters aren’t stereotypes. You might expect Paxton to be bitter and angry about his company being destroyed by Cloud and having to go to work for them, but he’s actually a guy who still believes that he can achieve his dreams by good ideas and hard work. Zinnia isn’t a radical trying to change the world either. She’s a mercenary doing a job for money, and while she has no love for Cloud she’s not looking to take it down either.

We also hear from Gibson Wells in the form of messages he’s releasing as he does a final farewell tour of the company he built, and that includes some of his history. At first his folksy tale of how he started Cloud with little more than an idea and some furniture scavenged from a closed school gives us the impression that this is the American dream taken to its fullest potential. Especially when Wells lays out that part of his goal for creating the Cloud facilities was to provide good jobs while helping to stave the increasing ravages of climate change by making the greenest facilities possible. It all sounds very reasonable, maybe even honorable. Yet as we learn more and more about how Cloud actually works Wells’ defense of his business tactics start to ring increasingly hollow.

For example, all the Cloud employees are on a rating system where their performance is constantly evaluated and a star value assigned which Wells explains came from his old grade school days when he always tried to get all the points possible on his assignments. That sounds good, but when average performance might get you fired then it’s a constant battle to be great, even perfect. Which then means that the standards shift to a point where people literally have to run themselves ragged to meet the minimum performance level.

Another thing the book does an excellent job at is showing just how falling into a routine might be the most dangerous and depressing aspect of all. There are several points where both Paxton and Zinnia get into the rut of just doing their job, returning to their small apartments, watching TV, falling asleep, and then doing it again. This, more than anything, might be the thing that lets Cloud flourish. If your employees have to expend so much physical and mental energy to get through an average workday that they just want to collapse into a stupor every night then they’re never going to have the time or gumption to try and shake things up in any way.

So this is a well written book with a timely message that I thought it was excellent. It also depressed the hell out of me because I read it on device I got from the company that Cloud is obviously based on. Now I’m posting a review on a website owned by that same corporation. Even though I don’t directly work for that company it’s changed my life in many ways, and I went along with it because it was cheap and convenient without wondering too much where it all ends. Oops.

Even worse is that after reading this now, at a time when billionaires make the rules and the bottom line is used to justify everything they do, I don’t see a way that it gets better without humanity going all the way down Fury Road and just starting over.

But hey, it’s still a good book so go ahead and read it. Just maybe try to find a copy in an independent bookstore.

[Zoeytron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Copy furnished by Net Galley for the price of a review.

Look around you.  The charming Mom & Pop shops of yesteryear are a rarity now.  Brick and mortar chain stores are closing down at an alarming rate.  It's less and less safe to leave your home.  It's the perfect storm.  Online shopping, drone delivery, instant gratification.  Can one mega-corporation really service all your needs?  'The market dictates.'  If this tale doesn't give you the shivers, then you haven't been paying attention.  

If you thought the recipe for Soylent Green was disturbing, get ready for the secret ingredient in the famous Cloudburger.  Gah!

[LIsa Noell "Rocking the chutzpah!" · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to Crown Publishing, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. There are moments when I really appreciate Netgalley, and this is one of them. This isn't a book that I would have spent money on, and if I had, then I probably still wouldn't have read it! I knew from the get go how this book would be, and also the end. Yep! I'm one of those crazy folk who prefers locally owned. I don't shop boxstores, and except for e-books and my kindle device, I very seldom shop Amazon! Like maybe, once or twice a decade! That's it. I started reading this book, and I got to the part where it stated that the Cloud didn't pay in money. Only credits. Everything you NEEDED could only be bought through the Cloud. These are employees. They work 10 to 12 hour days, 7 days a week. Of course, no unions. Well, anyone who knows me, knows that I'm slightly pissed off now! I've turned down promotions because I was expected to work more than 40 hours. Money is awesome. Too much time spent making that kind of money is not. At least for me! I've made a lot of money, and tiny amounts of money. I've learned to adjust! Crikey! So, living in this environment means I'm now going to have to "thermite" you! Guns, knives and other stuff? Psst! Nope. J.K! Maybe! I like thermite! I've never seen it, but I know how to make it, because....books! The thing is that this book is dystopian. From the first chapter, to the last, it screams "DYSTOPIAN." I love most Apocalyptic fiction, but dystopian makes me nauseous. From the time my favorite bookstores and funky little local shops started closing down. To the time I was allowed to interview and hire at the drugstore where I worked, and I kept hearing things about Wal-Mart especially, but many other home and office stores too! I knew that I couldn't support those wealthy, who couldn't, nay, wouldn't even give good health insurance to their employees! The first half of the book, I keep singing "in the back of my head," Tennessee Ernie Ford's song "16 Ton's." I know most people are way to young to remember the song, hell, I almost am too! Yet, the sentiment has always stuck with me. You load 16 tons, whattaya get? Another day older and deeper in debt. Saint. Peter don't ya' call me, cuz I can't go....I owe my soul to the company store...Chilling. Look up the history of what it was like before. Down with big business. Politicos with deep pockets. Also, what the hecks up with these big co. tax cuts? My squat hairy man received no refund this year. He seldom received much, but this year he did have to pay! So happy that the rich are paying their fair share! "That's sarcasm, b.t.w." Most of my Goodreads friends recognize sarcasm, but I've noticed lately that somehow ignoramuses's have taken sarcasm literally. Hey, I'm not saying your an idjit. But, yes, I'm saying, you are an effing idjit! This book just says to me, what has always been obvious. Buy locally owned. We here in my town, no longer have bookstores. No BOOKSTORE. Used? Yes. A fresh smelling bookstore? Sadly, no. I'd walk into Hastings every Tuesday morning. New release day! I always thought it smelled of puppy breath, until I realized it was freshly brewed coffee! I am not a coffee drinker! Tea, yes! Coffee? Coffee makes me high as a kite! It took me over a year to realize that fresh coffee smelled like puppy breath! Wowser! So, rambling on! I guess this is my way of saying that I received exactly what I expected from this book. I knew what it was based on. I also got the exact horror of it. There were no big surprises. It's dystopian. There are never any happy endings. I of course always wish for more. But, this is the way of the world. Still, this was a very readable book. I put other books aside, just to read this. Of course, it will remind you of Amazon and all internet stuff. I'm so glad that all this technological crap wasn't around in the late 70's and especially the 80's! Whew! I dodged a bullet!

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you remember that scene in Idiocracy where you could walk into that small town called Costco and get your law degree and get a special Starbucks?

Yeah, well this novel isn't that. But it is definitely Amazon on steroids, employing pretty much the last of humanity (or 30 million of them) as little drones send disposable products all around the world to disposable people.

Sound intriguing? Make no mistake, this is definitely a dystopia. Your job performance is on a five-star rating system and if you get a single star, you're FIRED. Sound slightly familiar? Just make this a company town with its own credit system, accommodations, and insular paranoid big-brother total tracking nightmare, throw the newbies into the mix, and THEN tell me whether or not YOU ALREADY LIVE THERE. :)

I liked this book. It's nastily familiar and a pleasurable easy read full of twists and turns and espionage and counter-espionage. It does have a big warning as a core message, but I didn't mind how stark it was. After all, we're in COSTCO/AMAZON now, baby! :)

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This dystopian novel is set in the near future when Earth has been ravaged by climate change. In America, cities have been destroyed by gun violence and economic collapse. Unemployment is rife, the government is collapsing and citizens are scared to leave their homes. A behemoth Amazon-like company called the Cloud has pushed most companies out of business and supplies nearly everything to American homes, all delivered by drones so they never have to venture outside to shop.

Cloud has built mega live-work complexes all round the country offering accommodation and jobs to those who are prepared to work under its restrictive and draconian policies. People work 12h per day, 7 days per week in whatever job they are assigned and get paid in credits they can use on accommodation, food and other goods within Cloud. In exchange for these basic comforts, people are under constant surveillance by a personal tracking device and there every move is watched. There are no unions and they must maintain a certain star rating for performance or they are ejected back out into the world to survive as best they can. Ruling overall is Cloud's founder and CEO, Gibson Wells. Convinced he is saving the world by providing a new way of living, with green policies and refusal to sell guns, he is a man with limited time left due to his aggressive cancer.

Rob Hart has created a future that is scarily plausible with consumerism taken to its extreme. Into this world enter two new recruits, Paxton, an inventor whose company was pushed out of the market by Cloud, and Zinnia, hired to infiltrate the company to hunt out its darkest secrets. Told from their points of view, as well as missives from Gibson Wells, the plot unfolds at a fast pace as Zinnia and Paxton learn the ropes in the Cloud and Zinnia tries to find weaknesses in the Cloud's security that will let her get to the heart of their operations.

This is an original and thought provoking novel. In addition to writing an engaging thriller, Hart has built a credible near future world encompassing some worrying features of contemporary life, including rising economic immigration, rising gun violence, the increased incidence of workers not earning enough to live on, the effect of climate change on crops and the economy as well as competitive business practices forcing small companies and shops out of business. 4.5★

With thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advanced copy to read

[Jenna ❤ ❀ ❤ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant! I think this is my favourite novel so far this year. If you enjoy speculative fiction, dystopia, or loved The Circle, The Warehouse is a must-read.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Warehouse is a sort of 1984 or Brave New World, updated and revisited. The premise of this page-turning easy-to-read story is that perhaps we are further along that path than we care to admit and we are going there willfully gladly and without much thought about the consequences.

We already live in a world where mom and pop shops are disappearing from main street, U.S.A. In fact, many cute main streets boast stores that are more welcoming to tourists than to locals' needs and the amazing thing is you can go into almost any mall or shopping center anywhere and find pretty much the same stores and same products. And, this is both great and crappy because we get the products everyone wants but perhaps not the endless variety we might want. For that, we only have to dial up the great web and there is one company with lots of warehouses that has everything we could want and can nearly instantaneously deliver it.

And, we might not be okay with governmental surveillance of everything we do, at least Big Brother style, but we seem to be okay with giving up our privacy to Google, to Amazon, to Apple. Your phone tracks wherever you go. Your internet provider and search engine knows whatever you post, whatever you read, whatever you buy, whoever you interact with.

And, we know that even now, Google at least and probably the other big guys too, censors things and makes things disappear from searches. Don't like what you see, just wait till they mess with the algorithms again and point you in the preferred direction. It's happening now as you read this. Your preferences and desires are being noted.

Hart gives us a story where one giant corporation controls nearly all commerce and employs thirty million people in its cloud villages where drones are sent out from warehouses every minute to everywhere to deliver product. And no other companies can survive the competition.

Outside is a wasteland where global warming has baked everything beyond perfection. And, inside the Cloud village, conformity is the name of the game and go along and get along is the motto. Drudgery, being tracked by the watches, afraid to step out of line lest your star rating goes down. But, the price of giving up your freedom to roam, to think, to live, is to get a decent apartment and cloud burgers (although those are the subject of another treatise and i will not waste your time on it now).

Using several alternating voices (Paxton, Zinnia, and of course Gibson) is the latest rage by all modern authors, but here it actually works well and we get to know our characters and see the world through their eyes. That being said, this is Paxton’s story and it is really through his eyes 👀 that we learn things. We can never fully trust Zinnia’s voice. She has motives we are never sure about. And, Gibson never reveals his true self and rather offers little more than a giant infomercial.

Very enjoyable and easy read that makes you wonder where we are headed.

Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

'I pity the man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or woman that produces the cloth or shapes it into a garment will starve in the process' - Benjamin Harrison, US President 1891

I was recommended this book by Ammara and to be honest I wasnt overly sure this book was for me as she makes tech cute and as someone who calls their IT department for the simplest of things I wondered if this book was just going to be a storm that blew over my head. I was wrong. Very wrong.

From the very opening quote I was absorbed into this dystopian world and in no way was this book too tech for me, the author does a really good job making sure the reader understands the science and systems of the Warehouse. The world building in this book is awesome, this felt very vivid to me and to be entirely honest, from where we stand now, this world is not difficult to imagine.

I don't want to say too much as it's best to go into this pretty blind however if your boarder lining on this, listen up ... if you have ever ordered something from Amazon, read this, its relatable, readable and so god darn real to where we stand right now, its definitely worth your time.

I'm pretty sure this book will not change the world, but it will make us more aware which is always a good thing.

Would recommend as a book club read as there's some interesting talking points.

A solid 4 star read.

[Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

”We gave them control. When they decided to buy up the grocery stores, we let them. When they decided to take over farming operations, we let them. When they decided to take over media outlets, and the internet providers, and the cell phone companies, we let them. We were told it would mean better prices, because Cloud only cared about the customer. That the customer was family. But we’re not family. We are the food that big businesses eat to grow bigger.”
…
“That’s the thing about freedom. It’s yours until you give it up.”
…
“This is some supervillain bullshit.... You’re going to take over the world?”

Thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for sending me an ARC of The Warehouse in exchange for an honest review.

Set several decades from now, The Warehouse paints a logical picture of Amazon’s future, and in many ways America’s future too. Greater concentration of power in corporations. Driverless cars. People in prison for failing to pay student loans and mortgages. Drones. Climate change affecting where people can live to the point that we see the return of company towns. So yeah, it’s a dystopia, but a realistic one.

The Warehouse is told from the perspective of three characters: Gibson Wells, the CEO of Cloud; Zinnia, a corporate spy hired to expose a secret behind Cloud; and Paxton, a former prison guard who comes to work at Cloud even though he blames Cloud for destroying his start up business. Paxton’s character is the one I found to be emotionally resonant. He is angry at Cloud, yet cannot help trying to succeed in his new job there. When he is disillusioned, you feel it. His first scene with Gibson is almost heartbreaking. He doesn’t drive the plot forward as much as the other two characters, but I imagine the story would feel cartoonish without him.

The writing in The Warehouse is typical of a thriller, though in some places Mr. Hart very skillfully communicates the monotony of his character’s lives. A couple of the plot twists at the end stretch credibility, but the ending of the book is still the strongest part. The story moves fast, and is very entertaining, but at its core is a warning about unchecked corporate power that resonates. Recommended.

[MissBecka Gee · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a lot of things I liked about this book...
- Zinnia is a badass character that I adored!
- The concept is amazing and (sadly) realistic.
- It's monotony makes you feel like you are walking right alongside the characters.
Things I hated...
- The monotony is necessary and relatable, but it's also really hard to trudge through.
- If you have read any of my reviews you know I hate unanswered questions...
of this there are many when the book abruptly ends.
Was Paxton hallucinating at the end or was Zinnia actually there?
Did the virus work?
What happened to Carson?
Does Paxton leave or stay?
That kind of shit drives me bananas.
Thank you NetGalley and Crown Publishing for my ARC.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a scarily plausible near future, brick and mortar stores have crumbled to the overwhelming weight of online shopping, with Cloud (a fictionalised futuristic take on today’s Amazon) catering to every conceivable consumer need. Productivity and efficiency are crucial to keeping costs down and profits high; as means to maximise the output of the workforce, each employee of Cloud lives onsite and takes Cloud owned transport to their designated ‘section’ (packaging, food prep, security, tech etc.) where they work 7 days a week undertaking highly repetitive tasks.

Each employee has a star rating, has their movements tracked, and output measured; it’s a police state with a semi-voluntary slant; employees actually want to work at Cloud. The reason? Cities are overpopulated, jobs are scarce, and much of the plant seems uninhabitable. However, two characters (and recent Cloud recruits), Paxton and Zinnia arrive at a Cloud ‘city’ with ulterior motives; revenge, and destruction.

The Warehouse is an addictive and all-consuming read which transports the reader to a future world not too far removed from what we already know. Big brother doesn’t watch, he tracks and monitors – everything from health, task assignment, to toilet breaks; its creepy and claustrophobic.

There’s an omnipresent threat element hanging over Cloud which builds as the story progresses with both Paxton and Zinnia key cogs in the machine. Not only are the characters and setting well written, so too are the more mysterious plot devices. I know the term ‘page-turner’ is overused but it’s warranted here.

My rating: 5/5 stars. Highly recommend.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings
The Warehouse gets a 👍for its satire of the US but a 👎for having more holes than a sieve.


Hart takes a bunch of our current socioeconomic problems to their next steps (including unchecked capitalism, climate change, healthcare, guns, and income inequality), so the satire seems incredibly realistic.

There are just *too many holes* in terms of these characters' motivations, their backstories, and what happens at the novel's abrupt ending.


I guess that averages out to three stars?

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a DRC of this novel.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is disturbing....but a great read!

America has been taken over by Cloud, a corporation that has control of the economy and the government. Free enterprise is gone.....most private business was destroyed by Cloud. There are few jobs and people will do anything to secure one. Everything is controlled by Cloud in one way or another. What was touted as an effort to improve the world has become a destroyer instead. How far will the corporation go to protect its dark secrets?

Obviously, this story is a thinly veiled horror/dystopian tale about a company like Amazon growing so powerful and all-encompassing that it destroys American society and the economy. This book is like an updated, more modern version of Orwell's 1984. The corporation is always watching. The corporation controls everything. And those who challenge the corporation disappear. All hail the corporation. It's a scary picture of what society might become.

As someone who grew up in pre-internet days, I see the drastic changes in our daily life, culture and economy since computers have pretty much become a necessity. Our social interactions are different. Our economy is different. Education is different. Nearly everything is different. While instant access to information is an awesome tool....some changes cause me concern. After finishing this book, I sat back and just let those thoughts run through my head. Are the changes a good thing? Or are all the changes causing more stress, more difficulty and a loss of freedom, rather than the freedom we all thought instant information would bring?

Thought provoking. Distressing. Mesmerizing. Great story! Enjoyed it! I will definitely read more by this author, even though his tale made me extremely uncomfortable. I think I need to read a cute story about a talking dog or something now.....gotta get this cautionary tale out of my head.

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Crown Publishing via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

[Lisa Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm. The synopsis gives the impression that this is a much darker read than it really is. I experienced The Warehouse as a more of a satire than a thriller, for the most part. In The Warehouse, Cloud is everything, and has basically taken over much of what we might consider normal life, including privatizing government agencies such as the FAA and creating their own energy sources. No matter what you want, Cloud can provide, and Cloud seems to be the only source of steady employment left in the US -- providing not only a paycheck, but also housing, access to material goods, and even to rare commodities such as hamburgers.

Of course, there's a price, like a total lack of privacy, having every move tracked, having performance rated in real-time, and having no say over work assignments --  not to mention an economic set-up that's like a throw-back to the days when workers owed their souls to the company store.

We get to know Cloud through the experiences of Paxton and Zinnia, two new employees learning the ropes, each with their own agenda, as well as through the blog entries of Gibson Wells, Cloud's multi-billionaire founder and CEO, now ailing and attempting to create a record of his legacy before his death.

The plot moves along quickly, but I didn't altogether connect with the book as a whole. I wasn't particularly interested in Paxton or Zinnia as individuals, and while the inner workings of Cloud were interesting and disturbing, the book's uneven tone (is it dark? is it dark humor? is it a thriller?) left me mostly unengaged. I should probably mention that a particular reveal made me want to hurl... but hey, maybe you have a stronger stomach than I do!

Overall, The Warehouse is an entertaining read, but without the solid impact I'd been expecting.

[Karen R · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrilling story and one of my favorite books of the year. A scary look at what the future could hold with a competitor-less ‘Amazon’ like mega company named Cloud. Optioned for a film by Ron Howard, this will be a must see! Rob Hart’s vivid imagination and creative writing jumps off the page and he creates a world that is unnerving and downright scary. He shows how a global network’s commitment to operational excellence could derail and its’ workers livelihoods under ‘Big Brother’ can be compromised.

Gibson, the genius behind the corporate behemoth is an interesting presence who comes in and out of the story. His rambling messages is an interesting angle, mystifying and egotistical. Is he off his rocker or is he extraordinarily brilliant? Something was up but I couldn’t put my finger on it until the big reveal when everything comes together.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

She smiled. "That's the thing about freedom. It's yours until you give it up."

"What does that mean?"

"Think on it."

According to Rob Hart, the future is here and we've already taken a big bite outta that burger. What was then is currently never in the now. Accommodating expressions of thought, design, and actions may come at a great price.

Paxton and Zinnia cautiously eye each other upon boarding the line of buses taking approved applicants to their new job destination. It's a sprawling high tech company in which individuals are housed in a live/work facility of giant proportions. These newbies will join the ranks of others wearing color-coded shirts that designate their job descriptions. Zinnia will find a red shirt waiting for her in her cramped living quarters. She'll be a picker on the floor dodging back and forth and up shelves for products. Paxton, a former prison guard, cringes to see that he will wear a blue shirt reflecting security. It's a repeat that he didn't want to repeat.

The Cloud is the brain-child of Gibson Wells who is dying of pancreatic cancer. He must choose a rightful heir to his dominion within the coming weeks. We'll find chapters designated as perspectives of Gibson, Zinnia, and Paxton. As readers, we'll raise eyebrows as parallels happen in an uncanny sense to our very present. These characters may or may not be who they say they are. There's going to be a high-powered cat and mouse game in the making here.

I've read several books by the talented Rob Hart and this is now a favorite. He does a fine job with this one and opens the door to plenty of discussion. Is the world really "fixable" and just who is carrying the tool bag to make all that really happen?

I'll leave you with another thought in the line of Homer Simpson: Mmmmm, CloudBurgers.....
Gotta read it to find out why.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Warehouse by Rob Hart is a thrilling futuristic science fiction fantasy. The story takes place in the near future when a retail giant known as the “Cloud” has expanded and taken over much of the business market. You can’t help but compare the store in the story to Amazon and how it has steadily grown and expanded in our world.

Paxton had once been a prison guard but he gave up that job to start his own business but after a couple of years Cloud has run Paxton out of business cutting his prices. Now Paxton is doing the only thing left for him and applying at Cloud for one of the only jobs left in the world.

Zinnia has also joined Paxton’s group of Cloud applicants taking the test under her fake identity. She has been hired by an outsider to get inside of one of Cloud’s factories and expose them. Passing the employment test Paxton and Zinnia are loaded onto a bus and taken to the nearest Cloud warehouse.

The Warehouse had such great world building with the Cloud taking over everything and housing their own “cities” while outside of that is a more dystopian world. One can just picture this being a realistic future while reading this when you can’t help but think of Amazon while reading. The only downside I had with this one was occasionally it would get a little too telling and not showing speeding the story along but otherwise it was a super engaging read.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/

[Jill McGill · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Cloud isn’t just a place to work. It’s a place to live. And when you’re here, you’ll never want to leave."

Wow... I felt like I was reading about Amazon! "Cloud" is extremely intriguing and messed up, especially how they balance work and personal living. Rob Hart created the perfect world balance of near-future, realism, and a creep factor that makes you want to keep reading more.

The perfect book for all dystopian readers! A complete page-turner. This will really make me think the next time I order from Amazon.

Highly Recommend!

*Many thanks to NetGalley & Crown Publishing for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

[Bam cooks the books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This new fantasy book is set in a near-future world where Black Friday massacres and extreme weather have just about wiped out in-store retail shopping. Into that gap has stepped Gibson Wells who developed a better package delivery system using drones. People can order goods online from 'The Cloud' and expect delivery virtually instantaneously from his mass distribution centers called MotherClouds.

Wells is worth $304.9 billion. Yes, he's the richest man in America and the largest employer by far. But as the book opens, he is dying from pancreatic cancer and has been told he has about one year left to live. He wants to spend that year driving around America in a motor home visiting as many of his distribution centers as he can so he can soak up the love of his happy employees. And while traveling, he's writing a blog, telling the wonderful story of his success.

The MotherClouds are like mini-cities where workers live, eat, sleep and play...and never leave the building for months at a time. People are desperate to be hired to work at the MotherCloud as most other jobs have dried up. The environment is so bad that cities have become uninhabitable ghost towns.

This story is also told from the point of view of two new employees and follows them from the initial hiring interview onward. One is a man named Paxton who was a prison guard at one point and would like to do anything else but work in security...and of course, that is exactly where he is assigned. The other is a woman named Zinnia who just happens to be a spy for the competition: she hopes to be assigned to tech where she can do the most damage but instead, she becomes a runner, one of those workers filling customer orders. Their two lives quickly become intertwined, headed for disaster.

Of course, one can see how the marketing trends of today could lead to this kind of dehumanizing mega-business, where people are used up and discarded if they can't meet the quota, where there is really no life except that provided by the employer. So often sci-fi provides a window so we can see more clearly what's to come if nothing changes. Who is Wells most like? Bezos? The Walton family? Apple? Google?

I'm sure this exciting book will make a terrific movie--it has all the required ingredients: action, intrigue, danger, villains and a touch of romance.

I received an arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Uhtred · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Warehouse is a very dark book; the whole unfolding of the plot is enveloped as by a cloud of gloom. And perhaps “cloud” is exactly the right word, given that everything revolves around “The Cloud”, an immense company that supplies customers from all over the world with home deliveries through as many immense warehouses. The warehouses from which shipments depart are in turn large cities, where workers live 24 hours a day, with exhausting rhythms, controlled by electronic bracelets that mark their work shifts. Work that is mainly receiving an order, taking the product as quickly as possible, putting it on a conveyor belt that will take it to a drone that will deliver it to the customer who placed the order. Sounds familiar? Yes, and it also sounds quite disturbing ... The plot of the book takes place in one of these warehouse cities, lost in the desert, where the three protagonists, Paxton, Zinnia and Gibson, will give life to a truly intriguing story and always with the feeling that something big must happen at any moment. And indeed a lot of things happen, but I can't tell you, because that would be spoiling. Aren't you curious to know how “The Cloud” produces its famous CloudBurgers? Yes, you are curious ...

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

AH—MA—ZING!!!!

Couldn’t put this one down, and when I wasn’t turning the pages, it was in my head. So relevant and thought provoking. This could easily be the not so distant future...

Just read that Ron Howard already optioned this for the big screen-woohoo!

ARC provided by NetGalley

[jennyliest · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 ⭐️ Ein lesenswertes Buch! Erschreckend realitätsnah, interessanter Aufbau, fesselnd geschrieben & regt definitiv zum nachdenken an 👍🏻 Das Ende war passend, jedoch hat mir noch etwas gefehlt, deshalb ein kleiner Abzug.